England’s captain Alastair Cook led from the front on a landmark day in Kolkata, when he became the youngest player to cross 7,000 Test runs and also the scorer of the most Test centuries by an Englishman.

Mid-afternoon, after sweeping a delivery from Ravichandran Ashwin, Cook triumphantly pumped his fist at his teammates in the dressing room as he ran up the wicket to reach the 23rd Test century of his career.

The 27-year-old, who made his debut in India in 2006, has now scored a century in all three Tests played so far this tour. The only part of the game Cook seems to struggle with is the coin toss at the start of matches, which he routinely loses.

The toss was the only part of this Test where Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his India team have come out on top. After winning that and choosing to bat, India has been a distant second to the English in the bowling, fielding and batting departments.

At the end of day two, England was 100 runs shy of India’s first innings total of 316 but with nine wickets in hand. Kevin Pietersen, who sits joint second on England’s all-time century maker list with 22, has yet to come to the crease. The visitors are on course for a mighty total.

India was 273 for seven overnight, a disappointing score at a ground where first innings totals have been known to reach 600 runs or more. Dhoni reached his half-century on Thursday morning, but was caught on 52 by Graeme Swann off a sharp Steven Finn delivery to end the Indian innings.

Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir had both scored half-centuries on Wednesday, but neither looked convincing. In contrast, England’s openers Cook and Nick Compton made batting look easy, with the latter scoring his maiden half century before being given out LBW by Rod Tucker, even though the Australian umpire initially shook his head to signal the 29-year-old, playing only his third Test for England, might have been safe. The ball, bowled by Pragyan Ojha, appeared to have brushed Compton’s glove, but he was given his marching orders nonetheless.

Ojha has taken the majority of wickets for India this series. The seamers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan have paled in comparison to England’s James Anderson, who claimed three wickets in India’s innings. Ashwin also failed to make a breakthrough in Kolkata, unlike England’s Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann, who took four wickets and one wicket, respectively.

There is still a long way to go in this match, but England is emphatically on top. The travelling fans, the Barmy Army, look happy (and heavy). A serpent caused havoc in the Garden of Eden, and now – at Eden Gardens – the English are impersonating a boa constrictor and squeezing the life out of India.

It will take a mighty effort from the hosts to get back into this match, and indeed the four-Test series, which stands at 1-1. The English are in combative mood, eyeing their first series win in India since way back in early 1985, when their captain Cook was just over one month old. The boy, born on Christmas Day, has come a long way.

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